3 in 30 update

Wow hard to believe that is the end of the month already. Where did March go?? Last week we were buried under a dump of snow and today I wore flip flops and Capri's. I love spring!!!

So here are March's goals.
1.In July Sarah and I are going to Las Vegas for a dance trip. So I am going to try and make some shrugs, or dance wraps, something like that, which I can sell to help raise money for this.
This one is not really a pass but not really a fail either. Sarah and I managed to do some crafting and made some adorable T-shirts. 
This is of course a Pinterest find and here is where I found them.

Here are a couple that we did with the glue on them. This is actually harder than it looks. 

In the dye bath.

Lying out to the dry the first time. They then got a rinse and sent through the washer and hung up to dry.

Finished product on one t-shirt.

Now she loves these and to be honest so do I. I chimped out on the T-shirts so I want to go and buy some better cotton ones still fairly cheaply. I would love to find some at a thrift store. :)


I also painted some place mats with chalkboard paint. However this has to cure for 10 days before you can write on them so I will put up pictures afterwards. 


2. Drink at least 2 8oz glasses of water everyday and exercise at least twice a week.
This might not seem much but I really need to get started.


I would say this is probably a 50% here. I did drink my water and am finding that I am more thirsty. On the plus side I gave up pop for lent and find that I am no longer at all craving it. I have no plans for one at all when Lent is over. 
The exercise part did not happen. Between crafts, dance, cleaning house I was too lazy to get on our treadmill. I think I will carry this one over to next month. 


3. Move our son out and move our daughter into his room, take down the temp walls that were her room and re-organize and clean that room that is our family room up. Hopefully I am able to bring our treadmill back in and set it up.


This was done during the first of the month. It has been great to have Sarah have a room to herself with a door. LOL 
We are trying to train her to not sleep with a light on now. Last night was number 3 with no light all night. :)
 
I am linking up with the weekly 3 in 30 update.
As well as with Michelle at Caffeinated Randomness.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for...
Sunshine and warmer temperatures.
Melting snow.
A friend confiding in me.
Being able to share apart of "my story" with said friends daughter.
Then realizing it was time to share the same part with my own daughter.
Knowing that God was directing my words so that through His grace they have the most impact.
Being able to spend time with my hubby at night.
Having a beautifully clean house, even if it only last a VERY short time.
Knowing Him as my Creator.
Being able to learn new things each and every day.
Being able to finally make a couple crafts this week.
Sticking with my 3 in 30 goals this month.
The sun being up longer.

I am linking up today with Red Oak Lane. What are you thankful for?

Is the list ever going to end?

I am not complaining. Nope not at all. Because I am healthy, happy and loved. My children are healthy, my hubby is healthy, my parents are healthy... OK you get the idea.

However today I feel like this chore list is growing instead of shrinking.
I did manage to get a ton accomplished today.
Laundry...check
Beds freshly made with said clean laundry...Check
Bathrooms cleaned...Check
Living room, dusted, valcumed and straightened out...Check
A healthy GF, SF treat for moi made...Check

However I still haven't been able to finish off the worker's list for the dance festival as of yet.
I still haven't done Sarah's costume or most of her alterations yet.
I still need to do a ton of baking for both the festival to sell and also so I can have snacks that I can actually eat without being sick.
I need to focus on Sarah's schooling so that she stays focused and on track.
I need to wax my legs. Too much info? :)
I stress...
What good does it do me?
When I start to get like this I am always reminded of one of my favorite verses.
Matthew 6:27
Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Nope so why do I.
I need to learn to chill ax more.

Time for some R and R with my bible. :)

Top 10 chores. What is your favorite?

I was thinking of all the things today that I could write a top 10 about and I came up with....
Nothing.
OK I had lots of ideas, but none that really inspired me today. Then tonight I had an inspiration. I started to think about all the stuff I do around here. (meaning chores/housework) and it hit me my 10 favorite chores.
So here they are...
My top 10 favorite chores.
1. Laundry. I love, love, love to do laundry. I love the smell of clean laundry. I love to hang it out on the line and watch it blow dry. I love to sort, wash, dry, fold, even put away my clothes, etc... I love knowing that I have a drawer full of clean clothes. We don't have to go searching for a pair of socks because they are all clean and put away (hopefully in my daughters case).

2. Cleaning up the kitchen.
I love having a clean kitchen. I think I got this from my mom who always insisted that the kitchen be tidied up. The stove always had to be wiped. Now my kitchen is a small obsession for me. We have a breakfast nookie area and it always gets cluttered up. It is supposed to only hold my mixer and the fruit bowl but somehow it is often the catch all. I am WAY happier when everything is tidied up in there. The dishes washed, preferred put away. Floor swept and washed. I love walking into a clean kitchen morning, noon or night. :)

3. Cleaning the bathroom.
Yep you heard me right. I love to clean the bathroom. Even the stinky dirty toilet. I love being able to make it sparkle again. I also very much dislike walking into a dirty bathroom. (My daughter has the main bathroom to herself as we have an en-suite we use. It drives me crazy when she doesn't clean up. )

4. Baking.
I enjoy making treats for my family and myself. :)
I love being able to know what goes into the treats my children and husband eat as well as now makes some delicious GF treats for myself. I like to find new recipes and try them out and see what becomes a new family favorite.

5. Making my bed.
I most always make my bed in the morning or when my eyes actually open. LOL
I love climbing into a freshly made bed and I enjoy walking into my room when the bed is made. I can even ignore a very cluttered dresser when my bed is neat and tidy.

6. Washing the walls.
So this might not be a usual occurrence. My walls do not get washed every week or honestly even every month or even every other month but they usually get washed about every 3-4 months. I actually really enjoy doing this. I know that no one really notices it but I do. :)

7. Mopping the floor.
This actually used to be on my dislike list but since I have my new mop and not on my hands or knees or spraying harse chemical around it is now on my like list.
I used to use a swiffer wet jet, after I stopped getting on my hands and knees. (which if I want a REALLY good clean I still do) and I loved the ease of the wet jet. However I very much disliked the chemicals that I was spraying on the floor. Then I bought a Rubbermaid Reveal Mop. This is really similar as a Wet Jet but way more environmentally healthy and healthy on the pocketbook. You use whatever cleaning product you want with water and spray and mop away. Makes me happier. :)

8. Doing the dishes.
This too used to be on the dislike list, now though as my passion for a clean kitchen grows and the fact that my dishwasher will never ever work probably in this water I have learned to like doing dishes.

9. Organizing.
This is not by any means a daily chore. But then again it probably is. I always have to do something every day in the way of organizing. Whether its clothes, school work, food, or whatever comes my way, I always have to sort things out. I enjoy doing this. I like to be organized. Although don't come into my home right now and think that I am, it would scare the socks right off of you. :)

10. Valcumning.
I will totally admit that this does not get done every day. Even every other day. I will do it at least once a week. However just because this chore does not get done very often does not mean I do not enjoy it. There is something so clean looking about a freshly valcumned rug. :) I will explain shortly why this enjoyed chore does not get done as often as it should. :)

Now just to play it fair and also to have a little bit of fun I decided to give you a very quick recount of the top 10 chores that I dislike.

1. Cleaning up pet hair.
This is such a time consuming job and I never seem to be able to stay on top of it.

2. Cleaning the cat litter pan.
I would say that this is probably self explanatory. LOL

3. Windows.
Flies climb all over them and poop. Rain spots, and dust. :(

4. Dusting.
This is why my valcuming does not get done as often as I would like. I dislike to dust but hate to valcum if it hasn't been dusted. Yep vicious cycle. hahahahaha

5. Taking the garbage to the road for pickup.
I know, i know this is an easy job. However for some reason I don't care for this chore. If I can I usually make sure that either hubby takes it out or my kids. :)

6. Along the same lines... Recycling.
Now do not get me wrong I really enjoy recycling in the fact that we are doing it. I love knowing that we are helping the environment even if it is a tiny bit. However I am not fond of actually taking everything out of the house to the bins. This is now Sarah's job. :)

7. Cleaning up my office.
It just more and more full of paper. My dumping ground so to speak. It is a good thing that my 'office' is only a desk and a filing cabinet.

8. Getting the water bottles refilled.
It is fine once I do it, but oh how I wish I could always pass this chore onto someone else. :)

9. Cleaning up my truck.
I live in this thing one would think that this would not be such a bother but oh how it is. I love it is when it is clean...But oh the work of getting it in that state, only to have it messy shortly after. :)

10. Cleaning up my hair.
I lose a ton of hair all the time. I for a long time used to pull it out in my sleep and even now when I get overly stressed I do it again. Therefore my bathroom floor as it is loose when I go to the washroom in the morning and my bedroom floor on my side of the bed (also same spot as where I do my hair everyday) gets full of hair. This is gross no two ways about it but my of my I wish I could find an easy way to have that cleaned. My method getting down on my hands and knees and 'scraping' the rug with my hand is not fun at all.


So that wraps it up. 10 likes and 10 dislikes for chores.
I hope everyone enjoyed them or at the very least had a chuckle or two.

I am linking up today with Angie at Many Little Blessings.

Manic Monday!!

Wow such a crazy day, but manged to get a fair amount accomplished... I think. :)
I managed to pretty much finish the schedule that I have to do for the workers for Sarah's dance.
I worked on two craft projects. One with Sarah that I have been promising forever that we would do. I will take pics and when we are all finished I will post them.
I made myself half a dozen  GF cookies. (sooooo good!!)
I worked on some of Sarah's dance costume adjustments.
Laundry is in the washer and dryer.
Sarah did a FULL day of school and even made supper as part of it.
I cleaned up my dresser...mostly. :)
I paid bills. I ordered labels for her costumes, shoes, water bottles, etc...
I ordered another retainer to replace the one that went through the washer and dryer a couple months ago. Oops.


Now for the really fun part. I read. Yep you heard me right. I curled up with my e-reader and read. Almost an entire book. I loved it!! It felt like a mini holiday, (if you ignore all the million gazillion interruptions. hahaha)

So tonight I sit here rested and content. Now to spend a bit more time on the schedule and more important some time in His Word. Throw in a good night conversation with my hubby over the phone and you have one happy chick. :)

I hope that everyone had a great day as well.

Finding Joy in Depression

 

Wow I don't even know where to begin.
About a month ago I was reading other ladies 3 in 30 challenge updates when I came across Amanda's blog. Her challenges for that month were all to do with her upcoming ebook. One of the things that she was asking for was volunteers to read her ebook and then write a review. When I saw the title I was immediately signing up requesting her to pick me.

Finding Joy in Depression

Those words leaped across the computer at me. You mean besides me and my sisters, others suffer from this and are willing to talk about it? I knew I had to read it.

Then the day came when I received the email saying yes!!
I was so excited I quickly downloaded the book and started to read. I will say this, I only had about a half an hour before I had to leave to take Sarah to dance so I only had planned to quickly puruse it and then read it more closely the next day. However when I started to read down the first chapter I was hooked. I had a terrible time pulling myself away so I could go to town.

This book spoke to me. I have never been diagnosed with depression but so many of the things that she was saying I could relate too. I was also understanding for the first time how my sister's mind works. (She was diagnosed with bi-polar some years ago)

I had many moments that literally took my breath away while reading as I was like YES that's is it exactly and other times that brought tears to my eyes as I thought yes someone else knows what this is like.

I believe that anything that has to do with 'mental' disorders has such a stigma attached to it. But lets get real people if we had kidney stones we would do what we could to fix it. If our back was out we would do what we can to fix it or manage it. Why not do the same for something that we can not see?

Lets do everything we can to break through this stigma so that someone or even yourself is able to get the 'help' they need.

Please take time to read this book. I promise it will be worth it.
All you have to do is hop over to this link: Finding Joy in Depression and purchase your very own copy.

3 in 30 update

What a crazy busy week it has been.
I spend most of it right here at this computer, and it looks like after this weekend I will spend another good chunk of next week in the same place.
However I managed to get a tremendous amount of stuff accomplished. :)
As far as my 3 in 30 goes well...

1.In July Sarah and I are going to Las Vegas for a dance trip. So I am going to try and make some shrugs, or dance wraps, something like that, which I can sell to help raise money for this.

Well I would consider this a fail. I never even looked at my craft stuff this week. Next week maybe? Hopefully.

2. Drink at least 2 8oz glasses of water everyday and exercise at least twice a week.
This might not seem much but I really need to get started.

This however was a large success. I am drinking a lot more water. Up to 5 glasses a day and I exercised twice this week. Having the treadmill back in the house staring at me has helped a lot. Plus I am getting really motivated not to be a puddle of sweat from being so large when we get to Las Vegas.

3. Move our son out and move our daughter into his room, take down the temp walls that were her room and re-organize and clean that room that is our family room up. Hopefully I am able to bring our treadmill back in and set it up.

As previously mentioned this one is done!! Whoohooo!! We even put a couch into the 'new' family room and made a little reading nook in the craft room for Sarah.
Then just to make life interesting this past week Rob and I replaced the main bathroom tub taps and shower head, and then on Wednesday my kitchen taps sprung a very bad leak so my landlord came and replaced them. So now I have two pretty set of taps. :)

What about you? How was your week?

I am linking up with 3 in 30 challenge update.